Name: Ahead of Thursday's critical hearing, here's a primer on the legal fight over the Lee statue
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Ahead of Thursday's critical hearing, here's a primer on the legal fight over the Lee statue

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Please subscribe to keep reading. You can cancel at any time.Loading&amp;hellp;{{title}}{{description}}{{banner}}(renews at {{format_dollars}}{{start_price}}{{format_cents}}/month + tax){{tagline}}{{special_title}}{{html}}You have permission to edit this article.© 2022 Lee EnterprisesShare ThisAhead of Thursday's critical hearing, here's a primer on the legal fight over the Lee statueShare thisRichmond’s Robert E. Lee statue could come down as early as this week, with a critical hearing in the case scheduled for Thursday.The state-owned statue, the lone Confederate statue still standing on Monument Avenue, has been the subject of three lawsuits since Gov. Ralph Northam announced the state’s plans to take it down in early June. An injunction, which could be lifted Thursday, bars the Department of General Services from taking it down.In a case filed by a descendant of the family that deeded the property for the monument to the state 130 years ago, Attorney General Mark Herring filed a brief Monday defending the governor’s plans to remove the statue of the Confederate general.“By removing the Lee statue, the Commonwealth is acknowledging that celebration of the Confederate cause is (and always was) wrong and that state-sponsored displays of racial subjugation and injustice will no longer be countenanced,” Herring wrote in the court filing.He also asked the new Richmond Circuit Court judge in the case, W. Reilly Marchant, to dissolve the injunction.“My team and I are working as hard and as quickly as possible to resolve this case and ensure that the Commonwealth can remove this divisive and antiquated relic from its place of prominence,” Herring said in a statement.A lawyer for the descendant did not immediately return a request for comment Tuesday.Ahead of Thursday’s hearing, here are answers to common questions about the statue and the legal challenge aimed at blocking its removal.Erected in 1890 at the intersection of Monument and Allen avenues, the bronze statue of Lee stands 21 feet tall on a 40-foot-high granite pedestal on a 200-foot diameter circular plot of land. French artist Marius-Jean-Antonin Mercié sculpted the statue, which weighs roughly 12 tons.It’s been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 2007.Saying it represents the “Lost Cause,” the governor announced June 4 that he was ordering the statue to be removed “as soon as possible.” The decision came on the seventh day of protests in Richmond, the former capital of the Confederacy, over the killing of George Floyd in the custody of Minneapolis police.“When it’s the biggest thing around, it sends a clear message: This is what we value the most. That’s just not true anymore,” Northam said. “In Virginia, we no longer preach a false version of history, one that pretends the Civil War was about states’ rights, and not the evil of slavery. No one believes that any longer.”The Lee statue has served as the epicenter of the city’s activism, becoming the site of protests, community gatherings and pickup basketball games, among other things.William Gregory, the great-grandson of the people who signed over to the state the land the statue stands on, filed a lawsuit in Richmond Circuit Court on June 8 opposing Northam’s plans. He argues that under the terms of the 1890 agreement and a legislature-approved resolution, the state is supposed to consider the monument and the area around it “perpetually sacred” and “faithfully guard it and affectionately protect it.”That afternoon, Richmond Circuit Judge Bradley B. Cavedo granted a 10-day injunction, saying there is “a likelihood of irreparable harm to the statue” if it is removed.Cavedo extended it June 18, saying “the monument is the property of the people of the commonwealth and that the governor is more of a custodian or fiduciary on their behalf.” Cavedo did grant a motion from the state to dismiss Gregory’s initial complaint over a lack of standing. Gregory’s lawyers filed an amended complaint earlier this month.The injunction remains in effect.The 69-year-old’s argument focuses on the language of the deed his great-grandparents signed. In the new complaint, Gregory says he recalls walking with his father around the statue discussing its history and his family, and that he would go with friends from the University of Richmond and tell them about his family’s connection.“For 130 years his family has taken pride in the Lee Monument and their role in the placement of the Monument on land originally belonging to his family and given to the Commonwealth in consideration for the Commonwealth’s guarantee that it would perpetually care for and protect the Monument,” the amended complaint states.It also questions the governor’s powers under state law to order its removal. In announcing the removal plans, Northam cited a code section (2.2-2401) that gives the governor the authority to accept a “work of art” on behalf of the state. Gregory believes the next section (2.2-2402), which relates in part to memorials, does not give Northam the power to remove the Lee statue.Cavedo, who then-Gov. Mark Warner appointed to the court in 2002 and the General Assembly re-elected the next year, lives in the Monument Avenue Historic District. He recused himself from the Gregory case last week, citing his residence. Cavedo said he was “unaware at the outset of this case that I lived in the Monument Avenue Historic District.”Marchant is now the presiding judge in the case.Six Monument Avenue residents filed a separate lawsuit June 15, arguing that removing the Lee statues and others on the famous street would hurt property values and endanger tax benefits for living within a historic district. That lawsuit has been withdrawn twice, once in federal court and once in state court.A third case, filed by William F. Davis of Henrico County, is pending. A federal judge ordered Tuesday that Northam respond to Davis’ motion for an emergency injunction before Thursday’s hearing in the Gregory case. Davis also wants the statue’s pedestal, which has been tagged extensively with graffiti during the protests, cleaned.Richmond, which owns all but the Lee statue, has removed its Confederate iconography, save for a monument of A.P. Hill in North Side. Hill’s remains are in the statue’s 24-foot pedestal and Cavedo, the initial judge in the Gregory case, barred the city from removing more statues after it had already taken down those of Stonewall Jackson and J.E.B. Stuart, among others.Yes. An anonymous Virginian successfully sought an injunction in Richmond Circuit Court challenging the city’s authority in taking the statues down. A separate lawsuit, filed by longtime Monument Avenue resident Helen Marie Taylor and another resident on the street, also opposes the city’s action and seeks to have the monuments restored.A hearing in that case hasn’t been scheduled, according to online court records.The Monument Avenue Preservation Society’s board of directors supports taking the statues down.“For too long, we have overlooked the inherent racism of these monuments, and for too long we have allowed the grandeur of the architecture to blind us to the insult of glorifying men for their roles in fighting to perpetuate the inhumanity of slavery,” the governing board said in a June statement.Virginia’s Art and Architectural Review Board approved a plan this month under which workers would cut the statue of Lee and the horse he is riding into three sections for eventual reassembly. Concrete barriers continue to surround the Lee circle.Once the lawsuit is settled, the state plans on removing Lee “very quickly.”“From my perspective, as soon as the lawsuit is settled and the way is clear, we will work very quickly to remove the statue from the pedestal,” Joe Damico, director of the Department of General Services, said during the panel’s July 10 meeting.(804) 649-6012Twitter: @jmattingly306Police say three people were killed in a car that collided with a tractor-trailer at an intersection in Virginia’s Nottoway County. The Richmond Times-Dispatch reports that driver of a 2005 Honda Accord and two adult passengers died at the scene of Saturday night’s crash. A Virginia State Police news release says the driver of the tractor-trailer tried to swerve out of the way but collided with the smaller vehicle after its driver failed to stop at a stop sign. The driver of the tractor-trailer was not injured.The former elections registrar in Prince William County has been indicted on felony charges that include corrupt conduct in office. Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares announced the three-count indictment against Michele White Wednesday, but declined to comment or provide details on the alleged misconduct. The indictment includes two felony counts _ corrupt conduct as an election official and making a false statement _ as well as a misdemeanor charge of willful neglect of duty. The indictment does not detail the alleged misconduct but says it occurred in the months before and after the November 2020 election. White did not return email messages seeking comment.{{title}}{{summary}}You don't have any notifications.Get up-to-the-minute news sent straight to your device.Topics

Please subscribe to keep reading. You can cancel at any time.Loading&amp;hellp;{{title}}{{description}}{{banner}}(renews at {{format_dollars}}{{start_price}}{{format_cents}}/month + tax){{tagline}}{{special_title}}{{html}}You have permission to edit this article.© 2022 Lee EnterprisesShare ThisAhead of Thursday's critical hearing, here's a primer on the legal fight over the Lee statueShare thisRichmond’s Robert E. Lee statue could come down as early as this week, with a critical hearing in the case scheduled for Thursday.The state-owned statue, the lone Confederate statue still standing on...

Ahead of Thursday's critical hearing, here's a primer on the legal fight over the Lee statue

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